Walkable West Palm Beach is an advocacy blog dedicated to making a better West Palm Beach by better utilizing our municipal assets and creating a more walkable city.

A member of the Streetsblog network. Strong Towns enthusiast and frequent contributor.

WALKABLE WEST PALM BEACH CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE – 12 QUESTIONS

1. What is your approach to economic development? Do you favor ‘economic hunting’ or ‘economic gardening’,

and which approach or combination of approaches would you pursue if elected to office? Would you consider

certifying West Palm Beach as a Level II economic gardening program to support existing businesses and

entrepreneurs?

2. How would you remove impediments and make it easier to build small projects, rather than the half or full city

block development that is prevalent?

3. A City committee recently listed 17 action items that are ‘ready to go’ in the Jeff Speck study. Would you

commit to implementing at least one of these ideas in your first 60 days in office, or do you believe more

traffic studies are warranted before anything is implemented?

4. Is transportation planning best in the engineering department, or under Planning? Which department leads in

the vision for street design?

5. In his downtown Walkability study, walkability expert Jeff Speck states that while palms can be beautiful, in an

urban environment they do not provide the many benefits of street shade trees and therefore we should

focus on street trees that provide shade in downtown. Do you agree with this assessment? How would you

respond to the diseased palms on Clematis that were planted two years ago?

6. Street trees often suffer from maintenance neglect, despite the fact they are one of the highest returning

investments a city can make in its urban infrastructure. It is common for city departments to ‘pass the buck’ in

order to avoid responsibility. How would you correct the issues with maintenance neglect and ensure this

valuable civic infrastructure is protected and nurtured? Who would be responsible?

7. West Palm Beach has a strong track record of innovation in livable streets and walkability enhancements. A

Transportation Concurrency Exception Area east of I-95 makes it easier to do livable street design without

Level of Service obstacles. Would you consider assigning a Livable Streets Transportation Engineer, such as

West Palm Beach had in the past, to manage these areas in order to insure we continue to make our city more

livable and walkable?

Walkable West Palm Beach is an advocacy blog dedicated to making a better West Palm Beach by better utilizing our municipal assets and creating a more walkable city.

A member of the Streetsblog network. Strong Towns enthusiast and frequent contributor.

8. Would you favor implementing a parking wayfinding signage program for downtown immediately? Or would

you wait to create a master plan for the entire city before acting? How would such a program be funded?

9. Where do you stand on the Broadway corridor and South Dixie Corridor efforts? Do you believe the priority for

this right of way should be the convenience of drivers passing through it, or enhancing the potential of

properties and neighborhoods located adjacent to it?

10. In a 2012 “Face of the City” proposal, 10 new tree planters were planned on Clematis Street in order to

accommodate new shade trees on the street. Doing so would have meant the loss of 7 on-street parking

spots. How would you balance the important placemaking and economic benefits of street trees against the

parking needs of downtown?

11. Okeechobee Boulevard is a real liability for the city. To encourage non-motorized mobility across the

boulevard, and then not strive to provide safe passage, is a serious problem. How would you work to make

Okeechobee Boulevard east of I-95 a more inviting place for people on foot and on bike, and how would you

propose to fund such plan? Would you consider a local match using City funds such as CRA TIF dollars if it

would move the project ahead?

Walkable West Palm Beach is an advocacy blog dedicated to making a better West Palm Beach by better utilizing our municipal assets and creating a more walkable city.

A member of the Streetsblog network. Strong Towns enthusiast and frequent contributor.

12. The Northwest neighborhood is harmed as a result of being disconnected from the rest of the urban fabric.

Banyan Boulevard, the FEC railway, and the Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard bridge serve as ‘border vacuums’ that

blight adjacent properties and inhibit redevelopment. Would you make this removing these impediments a

priority? Would you consider the creation of connector streets between Douglass and Division Avenue to tie

into the greater downtown urban grid network? How would such improvements be funded?